why you should ALWAYS take SS as soon as you can

So... endthefed...

Do you take back your original statement:confused:

Do you now agree that you should not ALWAYS take SS at 62:confused:
 
Texas Proud said:
So... endthefed...

Do you take back your original statement:confused:

Do you now agree that you should not ALWAYS take SS at 62:confused:
Click to expand...

not yet.

nobody laid out a factual case against it. just speculation and fears -

plus, the article from mr boyd seems more supportive than not -
 
endthefed said:
not yet.

nobody laid out a factual case against it. just speculation and fears -
Click to expand...
Regardless if you feel it is "correct", I'll just go back to my "mantra":

"I would rather die with money, than live without it".

My "solution" (in my situation only; I can't speak for others) meets my goal/mantra....

And as far as to your opinion on the subject? That only impacts your life :cool: ...
 
endthefed said:
not yet.

nobody laid out a factual case against it. just speculation and fears -

plus, the article from mr boyd seems more supportive than not -
Click to expand...


Well, since very few people know all the rules... it might be a bit harder...

But let's try this... my wife is 11 years younger than me... she does not have any SS of her own... if I started to take SS at age 62 and then die.. she does not get survivor benefits until she reaches age 62.. and then at a discount on my discounted amount... because I had started mine early.. and I can not 'fix' it by paying it all back

So, she will be impacted by me starting early for the rest of her life. If I had not started early, she could get a higher amount for the rest of her life based on my normal retirement amount....

Am I 100% sure of this.... no, but I am putting things together from what others have said... and my sister who's husband started early and it affect how much she gets..
 
If there's going to be means testing, perhaps it would make sense to spend down your other assets as much as possible before taking SS.

IOW instead of setting your rate at 62 when you have $2 million in the bank, wait until 70 when you only have 28 cents left.
 
TromboneAl said:
If there's going to be means testing, perhaps it would make sense to spend down your other assets as much as possible before taking SS.

IOW instead of setting your rate at 62 when you have $2 million in the bank, wait until 70 when you only have 28 cents left.
Click to expand...


i think it more prudent to convert the visible $2 mill into invisible $2 mill - precious metals, collectibles, etc. still take it at 62 -
 
Texas Proud said:
Well, since very few people know all the rules... it might be a bit harder...

But let's try this... my wife is 11 years younger than me... she does not have any SS of her own... if I started to take SS at age 62 and then die.. she does not get survivor benefits until she reaches age 62.. and then at a discount on my discounted amount... because I had started mine early.. and I can not 'fix' it by paying it all back

So, she will be impacted by me starting early for the rest of her life. If I had not started early, she could get a higher amount for the rest of her life based on my normal retirement amount....

Am I 100% sure of this.... no, but I am putting things together from what others have said... and my sister who's husband started early and it affect how much she gets..
Click to expand...

that's another question, not a rebuttal.

to be clear - i'm am not opposed to being wrong - it happens all the time! my latest...started buying into bp in the low 50's....last buy was at 36.xx :(
 
endthefed said:
that's another question, not a rebuttal.

to be clear - i'm am not opposed to being wrong - it happens all the time! my latest...started buying into bp in the low 50's....last buy was at 36.xx :(
Click to expand...

Maybe you should have stayed with conservative investments like gold?
 
Eeek. Since I am not married, the spouse issues don't exist for me. However, I did convert some IRA money to a Roth IRA this year - so either I pay big taxes in 2010 or more modest taxes in 2011/2012. However, the second scenario makes SS taxable... so do I wait or not...

The everlasting question. I'm still trying to work the numbers - I decided NOT to take it at 62 (this month) because of all the issues around the IRA taxation. As soon as I can figure that out... when pigs fly?...

Does anyone know when it gets adjusted for age? Specifically, does my age 62 SS amount stay the same until I turn 63 (and then become a larger benefit, if I haven't claimed yet)? Or do they pro-rate it depending exactly how old you are? :confused:

Part of me just says take it and run and pay the taxes - it would make life much simpler in terms of cash flow. It would definitely increase my taxes.
 
thinker25 said:
Eeek. Since I am not married, the spouse issues don't exist for me. However, I did convert some IRA money to a Roth IRA this year - so either I pay big taxes in 2010 or more modest taxes in 2011/2012. However, the second scenario makes SS taxable... so do I wait or not...

The everlasting question. I'm still trying to work the numbers - I decided NOT to take it at 62 (this month) because of all the issues around the IRA taxation. As soon as I can figure that out... when pigs fly?...

Does anyone know when it gets adjusted for age? Specifically, does my age 62 SS amount stay the same until I turn 63 (and then become a larger benefit, if I haven't claimed yet)? Or do they pro-rate it depending exactly how old you are? :confused:

Part of me just says take it and run and pay the taxes - it would make life much simpler in terms of cash flow. It would definitely increase my taxes.
Click to expand...


From what I understand.... it changes per month, not per year...

So, you can wait until Jan of 2012...
 
It changes by the month. Go to the SSA site and there's a place where it will figure it for you.

You can easily figure out what the tax implications would be. Just use the tax program you used for your 2009 tax, and put in a new entry for the SS would would have collected, then see how that changes your tax.

If you are still working it probably is a bad idea to take SS, because your SS gets reduced 1-for-2 for everything you earn over the threshold.
 
rayvt said:
It changes by the month. Go to the SSA site and there's a place where it will figure it for you.

You can easily figure out what the tax implications would be. Just use the tax program you used for your 2009 tax, and put in a new entry for the SS would would have collected, then see how that changes your tax.

If you are still working it probably is a bad idea to take SS, because your SS gets reduced 1-for-2 for everything you earn over the threshold.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I had looked there but apparently missed the month-by-month part. That helps, if I decide to take it in August or whatever. I'm quitting July 2, right after I turn 62, so work isn't an issue.

I have done, oh, 20? scenarios for upcoming years via tax program... sigh... it's complicated by the roth conversion. There are a lot of ways to play this. The cheapest in tax terms is to pay on the roth 2011/2012 and take SS after that. However... I have to come up with a lot of money to live on that SS would cover. It's messy.

The roth conversion still was a good idea, made a bunch of bond dividends - and bonds that are below par - not taxed later.
 
W2R said:
To me, SS functions as (partial) old age insurance. If I die young, I didn't need it anyway because I had plenty in my portfolio upon which to live.
Click to expand...

This makes a lot of sense to me as well. In addition, I plan to continue working part time until I don't want to anymore. So up until my official SS retirement age 66, I wouldn't be able to draw the full amount anyway as it would be reduced by 25%.
 
thinker25 said:
I have done, oh, 20? scenarios for upcoming years via tax program... sigh... it's complicated by the roth conversion.
Click to expand...

I've never understood the attraction people have for paying taxes sooner rather than later.

The roth conversion scenarios are much easier when you keep one thing in mind: "If it's not worth doing, it's not worth doing well."
 
I will take it early, if I live a long time, I'm ok with that.
TJ
 
rayvt said:
I've never understood the attraction people have for paying taxes sooner rather than later.

The roth conversion scenarios are much easier when you keep one thing in mind: "If it's not worth doing, it's not worth doing well."
Click to expand...

I am looking at the total taxes I pay for the three years, depending on scenario, and also (depending how I do this) looking at what my assets are worth a few years later... It's complicated. I don't want to pay taxes sooner, more importantly don't want to pay more than is necessary. Ugh.

In my case, the roth conversion was worth doing. It's the tax decision that's driving me nuts. So I want to do it well and pay the least possible tax. :D
 
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